Celebrate Your Fellowship! (1 John 1:1-2:2)

April 22, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Roughly 30 years ago, our synod officials, our Seminary professors, as well as all the pastors of our synod together with our members wrestled with the question of which Bible Translation we should use for our publications.  We considered translations like the New American Standard Bible.  We considered translations like An American Translation, which was also known as the Beck Bible or Beck Translation. In fact, I’m not even sure how many translations our synod leaders looked at in those years as they sought to find a Bible Translation that conveyed the Word of God as clearly as possible in a way that was as readable as possible.  All I remember of the Transition from the King James Version to the New International Version was that in second grade all the passages I’d memorized the year before were a little different than I remembered.  Yet, through all of that transition we still were able to celebrate the fellowship that we have with each other which is formed in the Word of God and founded on faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, 30 years later, we are again visiting a similar question.  For the past two years we’ve been exploring which translation is the best for our synod to use in its publications.  Though no translation will ever be perfect, we are looking for the translation that will most clearly and most readably convey the Word of God; the translation that will be most clearly and easily understood as our children memorize their Bible Passages, and as we hear it in worship.  In fact, at our Pastor’s Conference this past week, we took time to look at different translations of the Bible.  We specifically looked at the 2011 version of the NIV.  We looked at the English Standard Version (ESV) and we looked at the Holman Christian Standard Version (HCSB).  As we looked at these translations, we all had different opinions about the translation style, word choices, readability, and at least a few of us wished that we could take the best strengths from each translation and put them into a single Bible Translation.  Yet in all of this, our fellowship was not divided in anyway.  Throughout our conference we celebrated our fellowship.  We celebrated the fact that the fellowship we had with each other was a fellowship that had been formed in the Word of God and was founded in our common faith in Jesus Christ.  We recognized the enormity of the task taken up by the Translation Evaluation Committee, and we all confidently placed our trust in those who are diligently working as part of the committee that God will bless their efforts and they will be able to give us the very best recommendation when their work is done.  All this we were able to do because we recognized the fellowship we have with each other through faith in Jesus, which has come to us through the Word of our God.

In fact, it is this very fellowship that we celebrate today; the fellowship that united us as Pastors at Pastor’s Conference, which also unites each and every one of us together as believers in our Lord and Savior, Jesus.  It is this fellowship about which the Apostle John writes in our lesson this morning from 1 John 1:1-5.  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:1-5)

As John writes these words, he reminds us of the fellowship we have with each other, with God the Father, and with Jesus Christ his Son; the fellowship that was formed through the Word of God that was proclaimed to us!  For the word which we have come to know and to believe and to trust is the very Word of God recorded for us through eye-witnesses like John.  John was there on the banks of the Jordan River when John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  John was there with Jesus for three years, and he saw the miracles that Jesus performed, which marked him as the Savior, the Christ, the Promised Messiah who had come into the world to save sinners.  John was there on that Mountain of Glory as Jesus was transfigured before his eyes.  John was there in Gethsemane as Jesus was arrested and taken away for trial.  John was there before the Cross as Jesus suffered untold agony all so that he could cleans us from any hint of unrighteousness.  John was there on Easter morning as the Women came back and reported that Jesus was alive.  He ran with Peter to the tomb to see for himself that Jesus had been raised.  John was there with the disciples behind locked doors when Jesus appeared to them, and John was there when Jesus returned to his heavenly home!  He was there for everything, as an eye-witness, and now he is writing to you and me, to tell us and assure us of what he had heard and seen so that we might have fellowship with him, with our Lord, and with each other—fellowship that is founded on nothing less than the Word of God.

And that is what we are celebrating today!  We are celebrating the great and the precious fellowship that we have through the Holy Scriptures.  We are celebrating that priceless fellowship that assures us that we never have to wonder if a preacher is going to preach according to the Bible or if he will preach on some other faith.  You can go down the list of Pastors who have served this congregation, and whenever a new Pastor came you never had to ask yourself, will he preach the same gospel that our beloved pastor who just left had preached all his time here.  Not only that, but because of the fellowship we have in the Word of God, we can enjoy the rotations we have during the seasons of Advent and Lent.  We can enjoy guest speakers who proclaim to us God’s Word during our Mission Festival celebrations or when our Pastor is on vacation.  Because of our fellowship through the truth of God’s Word we can enjoy choirs such as those from Minnesota Valley Lutheran and our other Lutheran High Schools that have sung here in the past.  We can travel to Martin Luther College for the Christmas Concert and other sacred concerts and know that even in their music they are proclaiming the truth of God’s Word for the strengthening of our faith and the building up of our fellowship as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Not only that, but when you travel to other parts of the country, or even if you should move away at one time or another, when you find yourself worshiping in a WELS or an ELS church, you are able to celebrate the fact that these strangers are actually brothers and sisters through the faith created in their hearts by the Holy Spirit by his working through the Word of God.  You are even able to celebrate your fellowship by joining with your brothers and sisters in eating of our Lord’s Supper as an expression of your unity in the faith formed in the Word of God and founded in Jesus Christ our Savior.

How incredible it is for us to be able to celebrate this fellowship that we have with each other—a fellowship that has its foundation in Jesus Christ our Savior!  For it is through Jesus and his cleansing us from our sins by his blood that we now have fellowship with him, with our God and Father, and with each other as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Just as John writes, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 1:5-2:2)

Yet, even as we celebrate this great fellowship we have through faith in Jesus Christ, the Apostle John calls on us to work at maintaining that fellowship through the teaching of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins that he has won.  He calls on us to guard our fellowship in Christ so that no false ideas, no false teachings, no false doctrines creep in and ultimately destroy the fellowship that we have.  It is because of this admonition, that as we celebrate our fellowship through faith in Jesus as a congregation we practice what has come to be known as Close Communion.  We practice Close Communion, meaning that we allow only those who are in fellowship with us as members of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations or Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations to participate with us in the meal of the Lord’s Supper.  This is by no means a judgment upon any body’s faith!  Rather, this is our recognition that as we celebrate our fellowship in Communion, it is our responsibility to each other as Christians as well as to the Lord our God, that our fellowship be based on complete agreement of faith as we eat the Lord’s great fellowship meal of his body and blood.  Thus, if a visitor from outside our fellowship joins us for worship on the day we celebrate Holy Communion, it is out of love for the Lord and for the fellowship we have with him and with each other, that we do not allow that visitor to join us in the Lord’s Supper, until we can be certain that he or she knows what we are doing, understands that the bread is at the same time Jesus’ body just as the wine is at the same time Jesus’ blood, and has joined us in our fellowship which is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Not only is this the case with Communion, but the fellowship we have through faith in Christ Jesus, is also the reason why we so strongly encourage our members who have moved away to join a local Wisconsin Synod or Evangelical Lutheran Synod church in their area as quickly as they can after they move.  This is also why our elders work as they do to lovingly encourage our members to gather with us regularly for worship, especially if they are members who have not been attending worship on a regular basis.  They do this so that we all might once again enjoy the blessings of fellowship that we have through faith in Christ Jesus. 

This is the fellowship that we have with each other that has been founded on our faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, through the Word of God that was proclaimed to us.  This is the fellowship through which we are reminded of all that our Savior did for us.  How our Savior freed us from our sins by his death and resurrection.  This is the fellowship through which we grow together as a family of believers who know and believe the precious truths of the Bible through our faith in Jesus Christ created by God’s Word.

As Christians, our fellowship with each other is a great blessing that the Lord has bestowed upon us.  It is a blessing that has been formed in the Word of God and it is built on the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.  Even as we looked at different translations at Conference, we celebrated that fellowship.  Even as we move forward as districts and as a synod to decide which translation is best for our use in publications because it most clearly conveys God’s Word, we will continue to enjoy the fellowship we have.  We will continue to enjoy the fellowship that is ours in the Word of God and Christ Jesus our Savior—the fellowship we have with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior!

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

I know that My Redeemer Lives! (Job 19:23-27)

The Resurrection of our Lord Easter Day 
April 8, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

As we have gathered in worship on this glorious Easter Sunday, we have gathered to raise our hearts and voice in praise of our Lord Jesus who though he was crucified has now risen from death and now lives and rules eternally.  We have joined our hearts and our voices together as we have sung beautiful hymns reminding us that Jesus has risen from the dead, that because Jesus is alive we know that he has won the victory, that we know that our redeemer lives.  In fact, what better message could there be for us today than the message that Jesus is alive!  For this message that Jesus, our Savior has been raised from the dead and is now alive, is the central message of salvation recorded in the Bible.  In fact, it was this message that inspired Samuel Medley to write his beautiful eight stanza hymn that we sang only a few moments ago.  That beautiful hymn which echoes the words of Job in our lesson for today; the words that Job spoke something like two thousand years before Jesus was born. 

In fact, I would like to invite you, if you haven’t already, to open your Bibles to our lesson in Job 19:23-25.  Now, as you are opening to Job 19:23, let me remind you of some of the things that had happened to Job.  He was the one who lost all his children and all his possessions in a single day.  He is the one who endured painful sores, which covered his body.  He is the one who endured seven days of silence when his friends came to comfort him, because when his friends came they didn’t know what to say to him.  Job was the one who was in such a pitiable condition that they couldn’t even say, “Cheer up, old friend.  At least you still have your health.”  For it was obvious to them that Job didn’t even have that anymore.  Yet even in the midst of his sorrow.  Even in the midst of his suffering, the Lord strengthened Job and he was able to utter the beautiful words of our lesson today:  23 “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! 25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!(Job 19:23–27, NIV84)

What an amazing confession of faith from a man who was suffering so terribly!  What an amazing confession of the facts that took place something like two-thousand years later!  What an amazing echo of what the women told the disciples when they returned from the tomb on that Easter morning!  What an amazing thing for the disciples to hear that Jesus, their Savior, the one whom they had seen crucified; the one who they saw give up his life and die; the one whom the saw laid in a tomb that was sealed by the religious leaders and the Romans; He was now alive!  Yet, as you know, the disciples did not believe it right away.  Partly because they had not fully comprehended what Jesus had taught them, and, I’m sure, partly because of the emotional roller coaster that they had ridden for the past week.  It had only been seven days earlier when Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem in triumph to the shouts of “Hosanna!  Hosanna to the Son of David!  Hosanna in the highest!”  But then, a mere five days later, Jesus was on trial for crimes he had never committed.  Though his followers had shouted as loudly as they could, their cries of, “Jesus!” could not compete with the cries of “Barabbas!” when Pilate asked, “Whom shall I release to you?”  Though Jesus’ followers had cried out, “Release him!” they still could not drown out the echoing cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” when Pilate asked, “What shall I do with him?” 

Now it was early Sunday morning, just after sunrise, and the women were on their way to the tomb.  They were going to anoint Jesus body with spices and give him the proper burial, which they had not had time to give him because it was so close to the Sabbath.  As they walked along they remembered the stone in front of the tomb and wondered who would roll it away for them.  But when they got to the tomb the stone had already been rolled away.  When they went into the tomb they found that Jesus was no longer there.  There was only the angel who told them that Jesus was not there because he had risen from the dead.  Jesus, their Savior, was alive once again!  Though at first the women were somewhat bewildered by this announcement and didn’t fully comprehend what the angel was telling them, we understand and take comfort in the fact that Christ Jesus, our Savior, has risen from the dead and is alive, just as Job confessed so many years ago, “25 I know that my Redeemer lives,” (Job 19:25a, NIV84)

Could there be any greater comfort for us than the comfort that comes from knowing that Jesus, our Savior, is alive?  For the comfort we receive comes from knowing that when Christ went to the cross he drank all the hellish dregs of the cup of God’s wrath so that there would not be even one drop of suffering left for us to drink.  When Christ went to the cross he went there to give his life in sacrifice so that by his death he would completely pay the price that God demanded for the satisfaction and forgiveness of our sins.  But now, because we know that Jesus has risen from the dead, we know that he has completed our salvation.  Because Jesus is alive, we know that all of our sins have been forgiven.  Because Jesus is alive we know that sin and death have been defeated.  Because Jesus is alive, we know that he is our salvation.  He is in heaven even now interceding before God the Father on our behalf.  He is in heaven even now preparing a place for us, just as he has promised to do.  But the best part about knowing that Jesus is alive, is knowing that he will return for us one day to take us home to be with him forever.

Amazingly, even this is something that Job confessed and prophesied a couple thousand years before Jesus was even born!  For when Job spoke his beautiful confession he didn’t just stop by saying, “I know that my Redeemer lives.”  Rather, he continued on as he said in verse 25: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25–27, NIV84)

Though Job did not know Jesus as we know him, he knew that the Lord would one day send the Redeemer who would not only save him from his sins, but would also return for him one day.  Well, this hope to which Job was clinging is the same hope that the disciples cherished and taught to the people in every city and country where they traveled.  For the disciples knew, as Job did, that this same Jesus who had been taken from them into heaven would come back in the same way they had seen him go.  (Acts 1:11)

My friends, we have that same confidence in Jesus, our Savior, today.  Because we know that Jesus our Savior has risen for the dead and is alive, living and ruling in heaven, we also know that one day he will return for us.  Perhaps that day will be today.  Perhaps it will be tomorrow.  Perhaps it won’t be for many, many years.  But no matter when that day comes we have Job’s prophecy that one day our Redeemer will stand upon the earth, and we have Jesus’ own promise when he tells us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.(John 14:1–3, NIV84) 

What a wondrous day that will be when Jesus returns to take us home to be with him!  For on that day as Job said, “He will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!(Job 19:25–27, NIV84)

Because Jesus came to earth, suffered under the terrible weight of sin, and died on the cross, he has removed our sins forever.  Because Jesus rose again from the dead we have no doubts that Jesus is our Salvation.  We know that through him our God sees us as holy and righteous people.  We know that by his resurrection he has defeated Satan and the power of death forever.  We know that because Jesus has crushed Satan and his power, Satan can no longer harm us. We know that because of Jesus death and resurrection, our death will be nothing more than a nap our bodies will take while we wait for our Savior’s return.  Because of all of this we can sing for joy with Job, with the Apostles, with Samuel Medley, and with all Christians, “I know that my Redeemer lives; What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead; He lives, my ever-living Head!  He lives and grants me daily breath; He lives, and I shall conquer death. He lives my mansion to prepare; He lives to bring my safely there. He lives, all glory to his name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same. Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives: "I know that my Redeemer lives!"

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Death Has Been Swallowed Up in Victory! (1 Corinthians 15:54b-57)

The Resurrection of our Lord Easter Dawn 
April 8, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Today is truly an incredible day, because today we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior!  We are celebrating the fact that even though Jesus  gave up his life in our place and died; even though Jesus lifeless body was sealed in the tomb from late Friday afternoon until early Sunday morning, his tomb is now empty.  His tomb is now empty because Jesus took back his life from the dead.  He rose from the dead and completely destroyed the power of death forever, by simply swallowing it up in victory!  Just as Paul wrote in our lesson today, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54–57, NIV84)

What greater message could there be for us today than the message that death has been swallowed up in victory!  Death has been swallowed up in our Savior’s victory over death by his resurrection from the dead on Easter Morning.  Death has been swallowed up in victory because through Jesus death and resurrection we have been declared not guilty of all our sins in the sight of the Lord God our Heavenly Father.  Now, through faith in Jesus, our Crucified and living Savior, we have peace with God.  All our sins, iniquities, trespasses, transgressions, misdeeds, wrong doings, lies, omissions, and simply our lack of perfection—all of it has been washed away.

This was the reason that Jesus came to the earth in the first place!  He came to do what we could not do.  He came to carry the full burden of our sins to the cross so that he could suffer the punishment in our place; the punishment that we deserved because of our sins.  This is why he was conceived in such a miraculous way by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary.  This is why Jesus, our divine Savior, took on human flesh and blood and was born just as we are, so that he could be our brother and free us from our slavery to the devil.  Yes, Jesus, our Savior was both God and man in one person.  He was like us in every way, except that he was without sin. Though he was tempted in every way, just as we are, Jesus never allowed one temptation to permeate his heart, and he lived a completely perfect and holy life for us, in our place.  Then, when the time came he felt the full power of God’s righteous law and the terrible sting of death as he gave his life over to death in our place so that he might make us his own.

But, even though Jesus did indeed die for us, we know that death could not hold him, because on that first Easter, so many years ago, Jesus took back his life, he rose from the dead, and now we sing with Paul and all believers everywhere, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54–57, NIV84)

Yes, through faith in Jesus, our crucified and risen Savior, we now have victory over death as well.  Neither sin nor death hold any power over us because Jesus himself has made death nothing more than a doorway through which we will all pass when we travel from this life to our Savior’s side forever in heaven.  This is our comfort and this is our assurance. 

Yet, before we close today I feel that I have to ask you a question.  What will you do after today?  Today you have been reminded and assured of everything you need to know for eternal salvation!  Will you seek to grow in that knowledge by reading and studying God’s Word for yourselves?  Will you grow in that knowledge by making a regular habit of gathering with other Christians in worship so that your faith might be strengthened along with them?  Or will you simply disappear after today and not be seen again until Christmas time or maybe the following Easter?

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54–57, NIV84)  This is our assurance!  This is our victory!  This is our comfort!  Live in it as you leave here today.  Live in the victory that Jesus won for you.  Live in it, grow in it, and always be confident in the absolute truth that death has been swallowed up in victory. 

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Jesus is our Savior! (Psalm 22:1-2)

Good Friday 

April 6, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

A few years ago, there was an article which appeared in the religious section of the Dallas Morning News, with the title:  “Savior or Martyr?”  This article explored news and information about Jesus as it tried to explain just what Jesus’ death meant.  However, rather than stating the biblical facts of Jesus death on the cross, it presented new and fresh ideas which challenged the Scriptural teaching that Jesus died on the cross to save the word from sin, by painting a picture of Jesus as a man who was so committed to his teachings that he was willing to die for them as a martyr.  Though this may be the world’s conviction about Jesus, you and I know that he was not just a martyr!  In fact, you and I know that he wasn’t a martyr at all, rather, we know that Jesus is our Savior from sin and death. He is the one who suffered to save us.  He is the one who died in our place.  He is Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior!

Now, among those who believe that Jesus was a real human being who lived in Jerusalem about 2000 years ago, there is little debate that he endured great suffering when he died.  However, in some circles there is an even greater debate as to exactly what and exactly how Jesus suffered.  Those who see Jesus as a great teacher who was willing to die for what he taught, believe Jesus was nothing more than a martyr who suffered death because his teachings went against the wealthy and influential people of the time.  But for us who believe in Jesus Christ as the sinless Son of God who came to the earth as our Savior, we know he endured much more than that.  For we have Jesus’ own words recorded for us in Psalm 22, which reveal the extreme anguish that Jesus suffered to save us.  David writes, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.” (Psalm 22:1-2).

Just by looking at Jesus on the cross, we never would have known the intensity of Jesus’ sufferings, but when we hear his own words, recorded by the Psalmist, David, we see the gruesome picture of what Jesus truly endured to save us.  For on that cross, Jesus not only endured the pain of the nails which were driven through his hands and his feet.  He not only endured the anguish of his whip-torn flesh scraping against the wood as he struggled for breath.  But on top of all that, he felt the weight of our sins pressing down upon him, and he knew the horror of his Father willfully turning his back on his Son.  In spite of his repeated efforts to get his Father’s attention, his Father did not respond.  Though Jesus pleaded for help time and time again, it did not come.  It wasn’t that Jesus only felt forsaken; it was that Jesus had been forsaken by his Father. Why?  Because at that moment, the Father was directing all of his wrath against our sins at his Son.  It was because at that moment, Jesus was suffering the torments of hell which we deserved because of our transgressions.  It was because at that moment, Jesus who was the bearer of our sin, was sin and had to be destroyed, so that we might be saved.

This is how seriously God takes our sins, and this is how severely he punishes them.  Call them what we will, errors in judgment, mistakes, little white lies, or even, if you will, an alternative lifestyle, God calls them sins and every single sin is a paycheck that can only be chased in for God’s everlasting justice and punishment in the never ending torments of hell.  This is what Jesus endured for us so that he might save us, and this is why Jesus is our Savior!  For when Jesus suffered, he didn’t just suffer at the hands of the religious majority because he had crossed them.  He suffered the full fury of God’s wrath against sin so that he might save us.  This is the reason Jesus cried out in such agony, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me?”  Because when he suffered, he truly suffered to save us, and when he suffered, he innocently suffered to save us.

Though Jesus went to the cross as an innocent man; he suffered as the Son of God hanging on the cross, not for his own sins, but for the sins of the world.  He suffered in our place; the Holy Son of God who had never committed a single infraction against God’s perfect law.  He suffered, because it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer so that he might make Jesus’ life a guilt offering for our sins.  You see, in the same way that the Israelites had continually sacrificed innocent lambs to cover over the guilt of their sins, the Lord God now sacrificed his sinless guilt offering to cover our sins once and for all.  Just as the Israelites were required to chose a one year old lamb from the flock and take special care of it during the fourteen days prior to the Passover and then, at twilight, slaughter that lamb and cover the door posts of their hoses with its blood; the Lord sacrificed his Passover Lamb, on the cross for our sins. 

Though Jesus was truly innocent of all sins, his Father saw fit to slaughter him to pay for our sins, rather than condemn us to eternal death forever in hell; for as we know, we are far from innocent.  Though we might try to fool ourselves into believing that we are pretty good, all we have to do is take a look at our track record.  Each and every one of us has at one time in our lives despised God’s Word by our refusal to come and worship him.  Each and every one of us has taken his name in vain by shouting it out when we were surprised.  Each and every one of us has failed to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, and mind.  (And those are just the first three commandments we have broken.)  But Jesus is the one who kept them all perfectly, and he is the one who willingly went to the cross to save us.  For there on the cross, Jesus, the innocent Son of God, was forsaken by his Father, to pay for our sins.  Jesus the innocent Son of God, endured the punishment our sins deserved so that he might free us from them forever.  This is how Jesus is our Savior!  Through his innocent sufferings and death, he freed us from our sins, and has guaranteed eternal life with him forever.

When someone dies as a martyr, that is the end.  Though their memory may live on in people’s minds, there is nothing more that person can do for the living.  When Jesus went to the cross, he went so that he might save us through his innocent sufferings and death.  When Jesus died on the cross, he died to pay the price that our sins deserved.  But when Jesus rose again from the dead on Easter morning, he showed himself to be the Lord God our Savior.  For in rising from the dead Jesus assured us that our sins have indeed been forgiven.  This is the comfort we have in knowing that Jesus is our Savior.  He is the one who freed us from sin and death.  He is the one who suffered to save us.  he is the one who died in our place.  He is Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior!

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN